We had a wonderful Christmas this year. We started off Christmas Eve with Sara and I going to the Nutcracker and PNB. I have been many times and I took the kids this year to a local Nutcracker in Kirkland. They loved it! I loved sharing this with them for the first time. I can see this becoming a tradition for us! Anyways – back to Christmas Eve – I was given the tickets and they were very nice tickets! We were in box seats at McCaw Hall. So off Sara and I went… The boys went to see a Dinosaur movie.

We arrived early and looked at all the things there are to look at and it was time for the ballet to start. Why are the boys holding the dolls (and pretending to shoot the girls?) and the girls holding the toy guns (like babies)? Why are there funny crazy costumes and why does the mouse king have a light saber instead of a sword? Why do the snowflakes throw snowballs and then make snow angels? Well, turns out the Christmas Eve production is a silly one! It was so great – it was like watching a new ballet all over again.

The Christmas pajamas!

Our Snickerdoodle cookies, carrots for the reindeer and a letter to Santa showing him which ones for whom.

Christmas morning was a blur – Alex opened all of his presents as fast as he could. He even fell down the stairs pretty hard racing down to get there. We made a deal the night before not to get up before 6:45, and thank goodness they kept it! Alex got a 3DS (game player) and Sara got a golden treasure box from Santa. And this year was the first year that Sara was able to write who the present was to and who it was from by herself.

Another gift Alex got was a remote controlled helicopter. It was really cool! He was flying it in no time, but not even 8 hours into the day and it was broken. I had a broken hearted boy. Apparently he wanted Lance to come outside with him to do the helicopter, but we had already been outside for quite some time. He decided he would go out by himself and play with it. Before we know it he comes in crying and saying it was broken. Sure enough, one of the wires snapped and a wing broke and it wouldn’t fly anymore. It was a tough lesson. He decided he liked it so much that he wanted to buy it with his money that he saves from his allowance. We decided that we would go in 1/2 and 1/2. We’ll see how long this one lasts…

I saw these streamers and instantly thought of Sara. They were perfect. Rainbow, sparkly handles and full of imagination. She loved them! Running up and down the street with them and even Alex loved them.